“It always seems impossible until it's done.”

“It always seems impossible until it's done.” 

Eliud Kipchoge blew away the marathon world record, achieving a time of 2:00.24.

How did he manage to cut Dennis Kimetto’s world record of 2:02:57 by over two and a half minutes? A pace which is 7 seconds per mile faster than world record pace?

With focus, preparation - and science.

Nike began planning the project, “Project2” in 2013, when they set the target of cutting running economy by 3% - with the goal of trying to achieve a sub-2-hour marathon.

Over the last 4 years they went through 100 different shoe prototypes in their top-secret “Innovation Kitchen” led by Geng Luo Ph.D, who said “For a shoe nerd like myself, this is heaven.”

The result? The “Nike Zoom Vaporfly 4%” - a super-light shoe with a mix of rubber, plastic and carbon-fibre. The shoe increases your running efficiency by an amazing 4%, and all three podium places at the Rio Olympics, including Eliud Kipchoge who Gold, wore shoes.

Nike then brought three selected runners (Eliud Kipchoge, Zersenay Tadese and Lelisa Desisa) to their HQ in Portland, Oregon, where they went through tests and training with treadmills, refrigerated rooms and wind tunnels, where they found the perfect drafting pattern.

Lead physiologist, Brett Kirby, Ph.D says: “What we saw could be akin to running downhill at like two-and-a-half percent grade.”

They then found the ideal course: Monza race track, with the idea flat surface, the right temperature and close to sea level to ensure maximum oxygen in the air.

And finally, they equipped the runners in ‘superman pants’ - Aerodynamic, half tights with compression bands to support the muscles.

Today, Eliud, accompanied by rotating pace runners and a pollution-free Tesla pace car, broke the record with a time of 2:00.24 - narrowly missing the sub-2-hour mark.

Derek Clayton’s 1968 marathon world record of 2:08:33 held for 12 years. In the 39 years since, it’s been broken 13 times, each time slicing seconds off the record.

Today, Eliud Kipchoge has combined human spirit, superhuman effort and modern science to achieve a bigger drop in the record in 2 hours than all record-holders combined have achieved in the last 20 years.

63 years ago, Roger Bannister beat the 4 minute mile for the first time. Since then, over 2,000 runners have done the same. Roger changed the mindset of a generation of what was possible.

Now it's just a matter of time before Eluid breaks the 2 hour barrier, and does the same.

Everything changes when you shift from “It’s impossible” to “How can I make it possible?”